Occidoriental fusion breakfast
Travelling in Asia presents any English person with a problem at breakfast time. What to eat? In many countries there isn’t a real breakfast food as such and you have to just get right to the curry and rice. So since I’ve been hanging around SE Asia, trying the various breakfast substitutes, I’ve come up with a fusion breakfast which makes me quite happy in the mornings. Basically it’s inspired by a Philippine breakfast tradition of eating fried smoked fish called bangus, and a Thai “style” omelette with a few Western additions.
For one person
Ingredients
A fillet of smoked fish – ideally an oily fish like mackerel, red snapper, or any local smoked fish (salmon’s ok if you’re feeling slightly posh)
2 eggs beaten with a dash of milk
4 asparagus spears in small pieces
A small handful of cherry tomatoes - chopped
A little chopped onion (red onion or spring onions are best)
One chopped garlic clove
A spoon of sunflower oil
A little grated cheese
Freshly ground salt and pepper
Heat up the oil in a frying pan and tumble in the asparagus, onion and garlic. Fry gently until the onions are starting to turn translucent. Now add the tomatoes and stir around a bit. Beat the eggs with the milk, and add salt and pepper. Pour the eggs over the vegetables and shuffle them round the pan until the eggs are nicely spread around.
Sprinkle the grated cheese on the mixture. Wait for a little until the omelette looks like its almost set, but still a bit runny on top. Do the tricky omelette thing, getting one side out first then folding it round in thirds so it looks pretty.
Serve the fillet of smoked fish cold with the eggs – it gives a nice contrast. Crusty, grainy brown bread and butter plus a cup of proper coffee are a good addition.
words by Lexa Lotus